Gettin' the Hang of it

Alright so I've been teaching for a few weeks now, and I think I'm really starting to get a handle on things. My torture class is no longer torture. I have actually started to find that I run out of things for them to do! I am not sure what exactly happened that made them settle down, but here are a few things that could have contributed to such a change. I started drawing five stars on the board next to each student's name. Every time they act up, I erase a star. At the end of the class, if they have four or five stars, I give them a stamp on both of their hands. If they have two or three stars, I give them one stamp on their hand. If they have zero or one stars, they do not get any stamp. The kids love it! The second thing that I have started to do is to send the kids that are constantly misbehaving outside into the hallway. They absolutely hate that! They cry so much when I do that. If I really don't want to pick them up and put them outside, I just tell them that if they don't behave they will be going to the baby class. They hate that as well, but not as much. Some other possible contributing factors that I have no control over are the fact that I had one student drop out of the class (he was not a trouble maker, but he did encourage it). Also, the students could just be settling into the whole school routine and getting used to sitting there forever. I don't care what has caused this change, but I am extremely thankful!!!!

Alright so on to what is going on outside of the classroom. The other girls and I have gotten together to hang out so much since we have gotten here. We have really gotten to know each other. They are all super sweet and super fun to hang out with. Every weekend just about, we have gone to this bar that all of the foreigners go to. It's pretty sweet! You meet so many people from all over the US and Canada mostly; there are a few other foreigners but not many. Last night, I met a guy that graduated from UGA, and a guy that was from Atlanta. They are the first people from GA that I have met since I have been here! The guy from UGA didn't seem like he wanted to talk much, and he was actually from Jacksonville, FL, and he hated the Florida Gators especially Tim Tebow. He was a smaller guy so realistically I think he was more jealous of Tebow than anything else because they were supposedly from the same hometown. Whatever, if someone's from your hometown and they make something of themselves, be proud of them and happy for them, don't be a downer. Anyways, so the guy from Atlanta he was kind of funny. He didn't talk much either, and when he did, he was kidding. He asked me how old I was (age is a very big thing in Korea...that's the second question you will be asked just about every time, right after your name). So I told him mine, then he made me guess his. Which if you have ever had me guess your age, you know that I am super horrible at it. So, I warned him that I was bad at it, but I guessed his birthday almost down to the month. It was hilarious. I never do that, and I was seriously thinking that he was younger than what I was guessing. Too funny!

Yeah, so we were out late last night, and I was up at 9:30 this morning for no reason at all. I'm kind of glad because I would hate to sleep the day away. At the same time, I have been sick, and I need more than four hours of sleep to fully recover. Plus, we are supposed to go back out again tonight. Oh well, maybe I'll get a nap in later?

I do want to apologize now for my use of smaller and repetitive words. Since arriving in Korea, I have realized how difficult it is to explain even the simplest of words. So I have found myself using fewer and fewer words that I would have to define. Hahaha. It's crazy! The other day at school, I had to explain the word "then" without using "next" or "after" because they didn't know "next" or "after".

I am really enjoying my time here in Daejeon. I do miss my family and friends back home, and I kind of wish they were here to enjoy this with me. But it's nice being able to experience a new place and new people without having to worry about what some one else wants to do. But to the people back home, I do love you and I miss you! Come and visit me!